Wow, reading this is like seeing my own story too. I have a parent who's narcissistic, married with a narc and just broke up with one whom I just realized is perhaps a covert narc. I wouldn't use NPD to describe them as they are not full blown. With the last one, the betrayal and the lies and gaslighting he employed shattered my sense of trust in everything, including myself. I'm still reeling from the devastation.
I find this to be true in my case: "You become groomed to accept less and accept mistreatment. Because you give away little pieces of yourself and your dignity and self worth over time until you look at how unstable your life has become and how unstead you feel." As a result of my upbringing in such an environment, I didn't know anything better than to tolerate mistreatment without saying "no," drawing boundaries or walking away.
Wow, reading this is like seeing my own story too. I have a parent who's narcissistic, married with a narc and just broke up with one whom I just realized is perhaps a covert narc. I wouldn't use NPD to describe them as they are not full blown. With the last one, the betrayal and the lies and gaslighting he employed shattered my sense of trust in everything, including myself. I'm still reeling from the devastation.
I find this to be true in my case: "You become groomed to accept less and accept mistreatment. Because you give away little pieces of yourself and your dignity and self worth over time until you look at how unstable your life has become and how unstead you feel." As a result of my upbringing in such an environment, I didn't know anything better than to tolerate mistreatment without saying "no," drawing boundaries or walking away.